23:53 - Sunny PagliaccioNote to self: Do NOT open links on max volume in the middle of a quiet night. Otherwise, not bad. :D

23:52 - ApothecaryFast food workers planning a strike in support of $15/hour wages next month. I'm a tutor in a reading lab at a college and I don't even make that much, a bit of an overestimation of one's importance, don'tcha think?

Wikipedia defines a deadlock as a situation wherein two or more competing actions are waiting for the other to finish, and thus neither ever does; it is often seen as a paradox like "the chicken or the egg". Deadlock, the band, somehow nods at that. Yes, they're primarily a Melodic Death Metal band, but there's more to it, it's not exactly complex music, but there's a sense that they can blend into their music anything, any seemingly disparage element you can think of, this band could probably make it sound "Metal" and put it in between grunts and riffs for 2 seconds or 2 minutes - but ultimately they leave it to you to decide whether what they do really works or not, there's no pretentiousness about it.

What's the value of the linings of a musical genre? Can a band dwell in experimentalism, follow whims without compromising its consistency, pursue a mould, not want to get out of it but constantly see beyond it, or is that bound to destroy anything significant one could make? "Manifesto" is very direct in asking you to reconsider your preconceived ideas on genre song structuring, set your mind free and enjoy what you're being given, these wonderful little whispers that sound so right and simple and yet so original.

If you like big refrains, you can have them. If you like melodic riffs, you can have them. If you like harsh growls, you can have them. But Deadlock hold no barriers on their creativity, they don't care about what may or may not sound strange on first listen, they'll use female vocals if they want to, they'll use intricate electronic arrangements if they want to, they'll even make hip hop if they want to (oh, yes, they dared).

I've heard "Earth.Revolt", I've heard "Wolves", and basically what I can say is that the uncompromising attitude of the band has not only allowed them to mature and evolve, to make them better instrumentalists, but also to make them a much easier listenable band. Because their 2005 album had charm but felt incomplete. Their 2007 album was fast and varied but not always pleasant. Now "Manifesto" is everything they've ever aspired to be without sounding uptight or restrained, no, this album is immediate, it's atmospheric, it has a personal imprint, you can go from "The Brave", possible the catchiest song they've ever made, to "Dying Breed", a vibrant and dark epic-ish opus, and notice this.

So, what are the limits for Deadlock? I don't know. I know they like their Melodic Death Metal, but I don't know what they're going to do with it. Sabine is wonderful, Sebastian is wonderful, and we'll just have to keep paying attention to them, because there's a sense with Deadlock that there's always room for improvement. The challenge here is to constantly try to decide if their unusual choices are justifiable or just take it for what it is and not for how much you start by thinking it shouldn't be. That's what so disconcerting about paradoxes. Does it matter if the chicken came before the egg or the other way around it, or, if you like chicken and eggs, should you just shut up and eat?

Ever since their albums Wolves, they've been becoming more and more progressive. Not to mention, they produce their own music now. If you take a look, only since Wolves has the lead guitarist(Sebastian Reichl) been recording, producing, AND engineering the albums. And that has certainly been for the best, as they seem to continually improve. Sabine is amazing. She's not just the incredible(and beautiful) singer, she actually helps to compose some of the keys, and she helps compose and conduct the orchestral and symphonic music with Sebastian Reichl. Love the new album, I liked Wolves a tad bit better. But that doesn't discredit Manifesto in any way. It was brilliance. Deadlock is brilliance.

Lovecraft - 11.10.2010 at 15:16

Awesome review indeed! Yes, it is one of Deadlock's best, but it doesn't beat Wolves.